•50 Years Ago - October, 1959•

Concerning the proposal to move the Warren County seat from Lake George to a county-owned site four miles north of Glens Falls, which will be put before the voters on Nov. 3, 1959, response has been in the negative. Readers of the Warrensburg News have voted three-to-one against it.

Readers feel that the county board should never have let the jail get in such a deplorable condition that it couldn't be repaired and that $1,824,300 would be needed to build a new one. Many people feel that Warrensburg would be a better choice as a new county center.

Until the proposed plan is accepted and a new jail built, Warren County prisoners are transported to Rochester and boarded at $4 a day, according to Sheriff Carl McCoy. (Note: the cost to rent cells is now about $100 per day.)

Glen Bridge nearly complete

The old inadequate wooden plank bridge over the Hudson at The Glen, built in 1903, will be demolished in a few weeks when the new concrete and steel bridge is completed. The plank bridge originally replaced an earlier wooden covered bridge that was built in 1816.

Irving Goodman can remember when the ice took that first bridge out in 1903 when it surged higher and higher and finally with a great heave, lifted the entire structure three feet and dropped it back on its footings. The next grinding upheaval of jagged ice cakes crushed the wooden covering, swept the entire bridge off its footings and deposited it downstream several hundred feet.

After the plank bridge was built in 1903, horse-drawn sleighs, huge lumber sleds, wagons and buggies have crossed over it in the past 56 years. The first automobile appeared in 1906. Untold thousands of logs floated beneath the bridge each spring, shooting through the deep swift water until around 1950 when trucks took over the transportation.

The new steel bridge is now having its final coat of paint over the red lead exterior.

Bears more plentiful now

The Adirondack bear population is increasing rapidly but the New York State Conservation Department is not worried. Despite a recent bear attack on Richard Bomyea, 25, a fire observer near Saranac Lake -when a bear mauled his shoulder and than fled - bears rarely attack humans. Bomyea was the first casualty in the state since records have been kept.

Bears have been showing up recently in relatively large numbers at garbage dumps in Indian Lake, Lewis and Elizabethtown. In August 1958, Mrs. Albert Evans saw a 300-pound bear climb out of the Schroon River in Warrensburg near Lem Hayes' old shoe shop and disappear down Frank Robinson's driveway. Charlie Reed also spotted a mother bear with her cubs in his berry patch.

Lights out, juke box silent at Wayside

The old Wayside hotel and bar on River Street closed its doors at midnight, Sept. 30, 1959. The red neon beer signs which flickered invitingly from the windows are gone, the last glass is emptied and the juke box is silent. All that can be heard is the sound of the Schroon River rushing over the rocks on the way to the Hudson.

Frank Johnson died in April of 1959. He and his wife, Anna owned the business for the past 14 years. Anna is now living in a pleasant second floor apartment in the Ashe block with her two grandchildren, Dickey, 17 and Diane, 15. Their brother, Danny, 25 has graduated from college and works as a salesman for International Paper Co.

Anna says that the Wayside Hotel has always been a working man's place and the patrons have always treated her properly and with respect.

On the night of Sept. 30, 1959 about 100 of the old patrons gathered at the bar to give "Mom" a farewell party. Dick Lanfear was bartender and son-in-law Keith Spottswood was on hand to help close.

All the older pictures and maps of Warrensburgh show The Wayside located by the historic Woolen Mill Bridge. The barn which used to be occupied by horses and carriages was once a complete distillery until it was raided by federal officers. The building is now owned by Dr. Howard Johnson of Corinth, brother of the late owner, Frank Johnson.

(Note...Merv Hadden came back home to Warrensburg in 1947 after the war. He purchased the grocery store across from the Wayside and started his 47-year career selling cars in the old barn on the Wayside property.

Many years ago, when the Wayside was owned by Red and Martha Smith, I was invited to see the back wall of the Wayside being taken out when repairs were being made. The wall was stuffed with colorful circus posters that served as insulation.

Today The Wayside enterprise, called "CB's Spirits & Restaurant," is owned by Chuck Bederian and is alive and well. It is housed in one of the oldest buildings in Warrensburg.)

Oscar's Market entertains students

Mrs. Aubrey's third grade class at Warrensburg Elementary visited Oscar's Market and Smokehouse. The children were shown how a quarter of beef is divided into different cuts. The smokehouse was smelly but interesting to see bacon and hams being smoked with hickory wood fire smoke. The bacon slicing machine was a big hit with the children.

(Note...Oscar's has been located at its present location on Raymond Lane since 1945. It burned Sept. 4, 2009 but is expected to reopen by Christmas, 1909.)

Obituaries

Merritt Leigh Runner, 83, died Sept. 27, 1959 in Long Beach, Calif. He was once owner of the Warrensburg Electric Light Plant for about 15 years. He sold the business in 1929 to N.Y. Power & Light Corp. and moved his wife Adella and two sons, Clark and Herbert Runner, to California.

Don H. Heath, 34 Hudson Street, died Sept. 27, 1959 at his home. He had been shop foreman at the Warren County Storehouse for 20 years and had served two terms as Highway Superintendent of the Town of Warrensburg. He was a veteran of World War I. Don is survived by his widow, Anna M. Morrison Heath. Burial was in St. Cecilia's Cemetery, Warrensburg.

Arthur Baker, 76, died Oct. 3, 1959 in his home at Brant Lake after a seven-year illness. He is survived by his widow, Jennie, a son Walter Baker, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Burial was in Brant Lake Cemetery.

Arthur W. Hastings Sr., 59, died Oct. 7, 1959 at Glens Falls Hospital. He was a resident of Lake George for 23 years. Burial was in Warrensburg Cemetery.

Emmett E. Schermerhorn, 74, died Oct. 7, 1959 at his home in Lake George. He was formerly in partnership with his father, Marvin in the Schermerhorn Construction Co., a respected old Lake George firm. He is survived by his widow, Marie, two children and four grandchildren. Burial was in Evergreen Cemetery, Lake George.

Harry Wescott, 80, of Bakers Mills, died Oct. 8, 1959 at 69 River St., Warrensburg where he had lived for the past seven years. Burial was in the Bates Cemetery, Johnsburg.

L. Pearl Kenyon, 79, widow of Melvin G. Kenyon of Stony Creek, died Oct. 11, 1959 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Harold Thomas, Stony Creek. She was the daughter of the late Leonard and Anna Harris Winslow and was the mother of six children. Burial was in Dean Cemetery, Stony Creek.

New cars make their debut

Karl Duell Sr. has the new 1960 Oldsmobile on display already in his showroom. He has only six 1959 models left in inventory. Karl and Beecher Baker flew to New York City on Sept. 30, 1959 to drive back two of the new 1960 models.

Mark Bruce will broadcast from New York City about the new 1960 Buick on WSET radio.

Not to be outdone, William Maltbie, 178 Main St., Warrensburg, is now showing the 1960 Chevrolet and John Hickey, at 22 Main St., has in the new Ford and Mercury. Robert Thompson is showing the 1960 Dodge in Lake George.

(Note...It used to be a big thing in local society to attend ne- car cocktail parties when dealers showed off their highly polished new automobiles and their wives fiercely competed to produce the fanciest hors d'oeuvres and to wear the most stunning gowns.)

News roundabout

Residents of Lake George have a new village hall.

A gala surprise party was held Sept. 27, 1959 at Ashe's Hotel by stock car racers to honor Hank Schmitt on his birthday. Hank is the promoter of the Warrensburg Speedway and he was presented with a purse and a model of his old stand-by stock car, F-40.

Mrs. John Haskell landed a 17 &3/4 pound lake trout while fishing near Anthony's Nose on Lake George. The fish is the largest reported in the summer of 1959. It was 35 inches long and it took her nearly 45 minutes to land it.